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Last week I was out in Seattle at a International Software Standards meeting where I have been chairing a subcommittee for many years. In an idle conversation in the hallway I learned of a small group that was arranging to visit the Boeing Everett Plant as invited guests of Boeing. Needless to say, I found the leader of the group and managed to get myself attached to it. The group was of 7 people which included three non-US citizens, which placed a restriction on our group keeping us from visiting certain parts of the plant doing work for the USAF Tanker Program.
Interestingly, the hotel where the standards meeting was and where we were staying was right next door to the Boeing Renton Plant which assembles 737s. The fuselage is actually manufactured in Wichita KS, and is transported by rail to Renton to be integrated with the wing and other part, which are manufactured at Renton. Outside the window of the meeting rooms we could see lines of 737s awaiting engines or other work parked there in their green protective skin. Upon flight certification they flew out from Renton to Boeing Field for painting a delivery. Every day a few would fly out. Anyway, they do not do tours of that factory VIP or otherwise, hence the trip to Everett an hour away.
Bright and early on Thursday morning our little group assembled in the hotel lobby and was met by the gentleman from Boeing who was hosting the tour. We boarded a Boeing Shuttle Van and headed off to Everett. Upon arrival the first stop was at the Security counter where each of us was checked for identity, citizenship, then photographed for badge and given a genuine Boeing visitor badge with a nice color photo on it. Also, safety instructions and a stricture about no photography whatsoever once security gate is crossed was given. Security cleared we piled into the Van and headed off to our first destination. Naturally each badge was checked at the gate to the compound. The first building we visited was the manufacturing center for the Carbon Fiber Wing for the 777-X.
We were met by our expert tour guide April at the gate and escorted inside. The 777-X wing is different from the 787 wing. The 787 wing is made in sections and then joined together by fastners. The 777-X wing is built as a single unit in two steps. First the two Spars are made by laying out CF (Carbon Fiber) tapes upto two inch thickness on shaping mandrels, one for the front spar and another for the rear spar. The tapes are precision layered out and pasted in place with heat by enormous robots. The CF tapes have to be kept at specific low temperature in refrigerated containers until they are used, and the entire enormous factory is a clean room to avoid contaminating the CF curing process. The employees in the room wear clean room gowns, gloves and such.
Once the mandrels are ready and fully taped up, the two mandrels are moved into this enormous autoclave which is big enough to hold the entire fuselage of a 737. They are baked there for 8 hours, after which out comes the two spars stronger and lighter than Aluminum. At this point the necessary holes are drilled and edges shaped. We saw this process, each step as they were taking place and the final outcome. A similar process is used to fabricate the CF skin of the wing and the stringers. We did not see that part. Once all parts are ready, in the second step, the parts of the wing are put together in its final shape and held in a jig, and this entire assembly goes back into the autoclave to bond all the parts together. At the end of it comes out a wing, left or right, depending on which one was assembled. After full curing thee wings are shipped off to the assembly plant in a different building.
We got to see parts of this process from viewing galleries. Since the factory floor is a clean room we were not taken there. Next we piled back into the Van and were off to the main manufacturing and assembly building which is the largest enclosed single structure in the world, overall 1 km long and half km wide. We entered it through building 40-21, where 747-8 parts are assembled. This is where we got on two Golf Carts and started our tour of the factory floor. We quickly moved on to the 747-8 final assembly, and saw a 747-8F destined for UPS in final assembly a close range, like standing right under its right wing. Our tour guide, April, took a group photo of the group with the 747-8 in the background before we moved on.
Next was the 767 assembly area. Because some of the 767-2C's being manufactured there were destined for the USAF as tankers and we had non-US citizens in our group we were not allowed to get close to anything. We just got to see them from afar.
The assembly bay for the classic 777 (300s) followed, and we got to see the stations soup to nuts. A lot of loud noise of robots riveting parts together.
The following bay that we visited was the one where 777-X prototypes were being put together, and this is a moving station assembly line with nothing bolted down to the floor. We saw the integration of the wings that we saw being manufactured (well not exactly the ones that we saw, but similar ones), being integrated with the mid section, and then the front and the rear fuselage and horizontal and vertical stabs all added together to get the whole plane. The high point was seeing the 12.5' foldable wingtips both in the folded and deployed state. At this point the Director of Manufacturing Floor Logistics, who is in charge of setting up the manufacturing floor stopped by to chat with us.
There were 4 or 5 777-Xs in the process at present, which included the first test flight unit, which we got to see. This is something that has not been seen by anyone outside that building yet in photos or otherwise. There were two static units, one for systems unit testing and other for test to destruction. Turns out that for the 787, even when 155% design load was placed on the wing they were unable to break it so they gave up. Their requirement is to test to 150%. The fourth one is also a flight test unit. They will go through a year long testing process before they are certified and deployed to customers.
Finally we moved onto the 787 assembly bay, and again, another moving station bay with planes in different stages of integration as they move forward in line. There were planes for LOT Polish, Gulf and ANA in final stages of completion. 787s are manufactured in Everett and Charleston, eventually moving mostly to Charleston. This is mostly an assembly line with most parts manufactured by partners and shipped to the plant here for integration.
Well that was pretty much the end of the tour. Took over three hours in all, and was very informative, and dare I say thrilling. We said good bye to April and our host escorted us to the Van and then back to our hotel. All in all it was quite a morning.
On the way back as we were approaching our hotel, BNSF was delivering two 737 fuselages to the Renton plant, which was kind of nice bracket to the end of the tour.
Interestingly, the hotel where the standards meeting was and where we were staying was right next door to the Boeing Renton Plant which assembles 737s. The fuselage is actually manufactured in Wichita KS, and is transported by rail to Renton to be integrated with the wing and other part, which are manufactured at Renton. Outside the window of the meeting rooms we could see lines of 737s awaiting engines or other work parked there in their green protective skin. Upon flight certification they flew out from Renton to Boeing Field for painting a delivery. Every day a few would fly out. Anyway, they do not do tours of that factory VIP or otherwise, hence the trip to Everett an hour away.
Bright and early on Thursday morning our little group assembled in the hotel lobby and was met by the gentleman from Boeing who was hosting the tour. We boarded a Boeing Shuttle Van and headed off to Everett. Upon arrival the first stop was at the Security counter where each of us was checked for identity, citizenship, then photographed for badge and given a genuine Boeing visitor badge with a nice color photo on it. Also, safety instructions and a stricture about no photography whatsoever once security gate is crossed was given. Security cleared we piled into the Van and headed off to our first destination. Naturally each badge was checked at the gate to the compound. The first building we visited was the manufacturing center for the Carbon Fiber Wing for the 777-X.
We were met by our expert tour guide April at the gate and escorted inside. The 777-X wing is different from the 787 wing. The 787 wing is made in sections and then joined together by fastners. The 777-X wing is built as a single unit in two steps. First the two Spars are made by laying out CF (Carbon Fiber) tapes upto two inch thickness on shaping mandrels, one for the front spar and another for the rear spar. The tapes are precision layered out and pasted in place with heat by enormous robots. The CF tapes have to be kept at specific low temperature in refrigerated containers until they are used, and the entire enormous factory is a clean room to avoid contaminating the CF curing process. The employees in the room wear clean room gowns, gloves and such.
Once the mandrels are ready and fully taped up, the two mandrels are moved into this enormous autoclave which is big enough to hold the entire fuselage of a 737. They are baked there for 8 hours, after which out comes the two spars stronger and lighter than Aluminum. At this point the necessary holes are drilled and edges shaped. We saw this process, each step as they were taking place and the final outcome. A similar process is used to fabricate the CF skin of the wing and the stringers. We did not see that part. Once all parts are ready, in the second step, the parts of the wing are put together in its final shape and held in a jig, and this entire assembly goes back into the autoclave to bond all the parts together. At the end of it comes out a wing, left or right, depending on which one was assembled. After full curing thee wings are shipped off to the assembly plant in a different building.
We got to see parts of this process from viewing galleries. Since the factory floor is a clean room we were not taken there. Next we piled back into the Van and were off to the main manufacturing and assembly building which is the largest enclosed single structure in the world, overall 1 km long and half km wide. We entered it through building 40-21, where 747-8 parts are assembled. This is where we got on two Golf Carts and started our tour of the factory floor. We quickly moved on to the 747-8 final assembly, and saw a 747-8F destined for UPS in final assembly a close range, like standing right under its right wing. Our tour guide, April, took a group photo of the group with the 747-8 in the background before we moved on.
Next was the 767 assembly area. Because some of the 767-2C's being manufactured there were destined for the USAF as tankers and we had non-US citizens in our group we were not allowed to get close to anything. We just got to see them from afar.
The assembly bay for the classic 777 (300s) followed, and we got to see the stations soup to nuts. A lot of loud noise of robots riveting parts together.
The following bay that we visited was the one where 777-X prototypes were being put together, and this is a moving station assembly line with nothing bolted down to the floor. We saw the integration of the wings that we saw being manufactured (well not exactly the ones that we saw, but similar ones), being integrated with the mid section, and then the front and the rear fuselage and horizontal and vertical stabs all added together to get the whole plane. The high point was seeing the 12.5' foldable wingtips both in the folded and deployed state. At this point the Director of Manufacturing Floor Logistics, who is in charge of setting up the manufacturing floor stopped by to chat with us.
There were 4 or 5 777-Xs in the process at present, which included the first test flight unit, which we got to see. This is something that has not been seen by anyone outside that building yet in photos or otherwise. There were two static units, one for systems unit testing and other for test to destruction. Turns out that for the 787, even when 155% design load was placed on the wing they were unable to break it so they gave up. Their requirement is to test to 150%. The fourth one is also a flight test unit. They will go through a year long testing process before they are certified and deployed to customers.
Finally we moved onto the 787 assembly bay, and again, another moving station bay with planes in different stages of integration as they move forward in line. There were planes for LOT Polish, Gulf and ANA in final stages of completion. 787s are manufactured in Everett and Charleston, eventually moving mostly to Charleston. This is mostly an assembly line with most parts manufactured by partners and shipped to the plant here for integration.
Well that was pretty much the end of the tour. Took over three hours in all, and was very informative, and dare I say thrilling. We said good bye to April and our host escorted us to the Van and then back to our hotel. All in all it was quite a morning.
On the way back as we were approaching our hotel, BNSF was delivering two 737 fuselages to the Renton plant, which was kind of nice bracket to the end of the tour.
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